Petition to Review the Singapore Education System

[verykiasu2010]

Chenonceau:

verykiasu2010:

mixing up home school with regular school

will be interesting to know which school that is

Every school in Singapore? After all, it is the after school homeschooling that funds the lucrative tuition industry because parents who cannot teach, hire tutors to homeschool for them.

over generalisation

[Chenonceau]

verykiasu2010:

Chenonceau:

[quote=\"verykiasu2010\"]
mixing up home school with regular school

will be interesting to know which school that is

Every school in Singapore? After all, it is the after school homeschooling that funds the lucrative tuition industry because parents who cannot teach, hire tutors to homeschool for them.

over generalisation[/quote]Might be... to say every school... but the phenomenon (after school homeschooling by tutors) is itself quite generalized or the tuition industry wouldn't be booming eh?

[schweppes]

Hi Chenonceau

Hope u don't mind me riding on this thread.

Sharing this post on FB, an open letter to Education Minister. Written by a 16yo Sec 4 student.

https://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/notes/janelle-nicodemus-lee/an-open-letter-to-the-education-minister/10150248404359401

[jtoh]

schweppes:

Hi Chenonceau

Hope u don't mind me riding on this thread.

Sharing this post on FB, an open letter to Education Minister. Written by a 16yo Sec 4 student.

https://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/notes/janelle-nicodemus-lee/an-open-letter-to-the-education-minister/10150248404359401

Very well-articulated.

[Chenonceau]

schweppes:

Hi Chenonceau

Hope u don't mind me riding on this thread.

Sharing this post on FB, an open letter to Education Minister. Written by a 16yo Sec 4 student.

https://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/notes/janelle-nicodemus-lee/an-open-letter-to-the-education-minister/10150248404359401

Not at all... thanks for contributing.

[sall]

I wonder if this new Education Minister is really going to listen to the voices of teachers, parents and students. Every time there is a new minister, there are changes, and the workload of tr and students will go up. I’m keen to see how this new one is going to keep his words.

[Chenonceau]

sall:

I wonder if this new Education Minister is really going to listen to the voices of teachers, parents and students. Every time there is a new minister, there are changes, and the workload of tr and students will go up. I'm keen to see how this new one is going to keep his words.

Yeah... me too. Wait and see.

[janet88]

sall:

I wonder if this new Education Minister is really going to listen to the voices of teachers, parents and students. Every time there is a new minister, there are changes, and the workload of tr and students will go up. I'm keen to see how this new one is going to keep his words.

I'm also waiting to see if there are changes made...hopefully the changes (if any) will lessen the paperwork of teachers and improve the teaching standard. The BEST thing to happen will be reduce class size.

Teaching Science to our kids is not easy. The experiments are just to 'spice' up interest :xedfingers: . Ultimately, our kids learn to answer those TOUGH questions in CA/SA from past year exam papers (maybe not all but enough to pass)...not taught in schools right ???

Fortunately I have the time (every morn), knowledge (after reading up guide book/Internet), discipline and resources to guide my son. But how many parents have the time and ability to do this coaching ?

[jenao]

Chenonceau:

dovetail:

Yes, how to do Science experiments for home schooled kid's? There's no economy of scale. The parent must have so much time, knowledge and discipline and resources.

The way the education system has evolved in the past 7 years, I doubt that we are leveraging on any economies of scale. Parents have to be \"partners\"... attend Science Workshops (conducted by the school) to learn how to answer Science questions. These workshops go far enough to show us how much we need to know... and how much help our kids need from us... but they don't go all the way to teach us HOW TO help our kids.

As it is, parents need to have time, knowledge, discipline and resources anyway or else, our kids learn only 40% to 50% of what they need to cope with exams. I put my DS homework file next to his SA1 test paper. Nowhere in his homework can I find questions of the same level of difficulty as in his SA1 paper. How are children supposed to know what they have not been taught? It is up to parents to homeschool their kids after school (either by tutors or like me, by myself).

Happily, I do have the time, knowledge and discipline and resources. and my DS is doing well enough that I am not worried. But not every child has parents with time, knowledge and discipline and resources. to engage in the after school homsechooling that MOE's teachers all assume will/should take place after school. Again and again teachers advise parents to give their kids tuition (i.e., after school homeschooling).

Of course, no system is perfect... but simply stating that no system is perfect does not mean we stop looking for ways to help the system evolve so that our children and grandchildren can benefit.

Very well said. If MOE's school is a private enterprise in the real world, where parents are required to pay for their kids education, then maybe no one would send their kids to schools. Parents would rather send their kids to tuition or teach kids themselves to get good grades.

Was discussing this state of education with dh last nite and he is appalled that the school does not teach the kids and tuition is a must. I also asked my friend who is a teacher if it is okay not to send the kids to any tuition at all and she said no, not if you want to do well for PSLE.

The t-score is the real problem. It basically rank everyone in the cohort from 1 to 50,000. This is very damaging. We do not rank for O or A level or even at university. An A1 is an A1 is an A1. A first class is a first class is a first class. BUt for PSLE, we actually rank who has a better A*. Getting 4A* is not important but what is more important is my 4A* is better than your 4A*. So, with this kind of ranking, the kids always have to do better than their peers. Even if you are gifted, you will need tuition, to do better than your gifted peers. WHich explain why even the top and brightest students go for tuition. And if the top and brightest go for tuition, then how can those who are not gifted not go? It is not just parents who are kiasu. It is the system.

I do hope MOE is reviewing the system. A few years back, during REACH feedback session with Mrs Grace Fu, she asked if parents would like to abolish PSLE. No, parents do not want PSLE abolish. But I think parents would like t-score to be abolished. Let an A be an A be an A.

[dovetail]

I’m afraid for GCE ‘o’ and ‘a’ level, results is also not criteria based. Marks are modulated to fit into a normal distribution curve. Your B could actually have been an A, you’ll never know. Only the IBDP is criteria based.